Friday, June 26, 2015

26-Jun-15: A month of disasters for the infidels on at least three continents and that's just today

The Liquid Air plant in south-east France, the target of today's explosive
and barbaric attack by "suspected" "alleged" terrorists [Image Source]
For adherents of one of the world's great religions, it's a special time of year [see "22-Jun-15: Deconstructing the Ramadan stabbings and shootings"]. Here is a taste of the drama unfolding today, as reported just now by New York Times, in a story datelined rather oddly Beirut:
Terrorists attacked sites in France, Tunisia and Kuwait on Friday, leaving a bloody toll on three continents and prompting new concerns about the spreading influence of jihadists.
In France, attackers stormed an American-owned industrial chemical plant near Lyon, decapitated one person and tried unsuccessfully to blow up the factory, in what French authorities said was a terrorist attack.
In Tunisia, gunmen opened fire at a beach resort, killing at least 27 people, officials said. At least one of the attackers was killed by security forces.
And the Islamic State claimed responsibility for an explosion at a Shiite mosque in Kuwait City. Local news reports said at least eight people had been wounded.
There was no immediate indication that the attacks were coordinated. But the three strikes came at roughly the same time, and just days after the Islamic State, the militant group also known as ISIS or ISIL, called for such operations during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan... “It appears to be an effort to launch and inspire a wave of attacks across three continents, reminiscent of Al Qaeda’s simultaneous multiple attacks of the past,” said Bruce O Riedel, a former C.I.A. officer who is a counterterrorism expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington. “The Kuwait operation is especially dangerous, as this is ISIS’ first operation in a gulf state,” Mr. Riedel said in an email. “The others will be deeply alarmed.”
...[T]he quick succession of the attacks raised the possibility that the Islamic State, which has seized control of territory in Iraq and Syria, has successfully inspired sympathizers to plan and carry out attacks in their own countries.
“Muslims, embark and hasten toward jihad,” said the Islamic State’s spokesman, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, in an audio message released this week. “O mujahedeen everywhere, rush and go to make Ramadan a month of disasters for the infidels.” [Source: "Terrorist Attacks in France, Tunisia and Kuwait Kill Dozens", Ben Hubbardine | New York Times | June 26, 2015]
The Tunisian shooters are still at large, says Sky News. whose editors manage to detail the facts as they are currently known without once mentioning the word "terror".

The Kuwaiti outrage - on a house of worship, and with at least 10 dead (something the NY Times people did not mention) - is reported by BBC News without once mentioning the word "terror", as well.

The beheading and attempted explosion at Liquid Air's plant in France, and the identification of the man arrested at the scene ["The suspect has been named as Yassin Salhi, 35" which leaves us wondering whether he's the racist thug of the same name in this 2012 news item] are reported by Independent UK without once mentioning the word "terror", or the word Islamic, Islamist, Moslem, Muslim or any other word connoting any religion, great or small.

Very well done, chaps. Does being non-judgmental in your precious manner mean we're winning this war?

UPDATE | December 23, 2015: Salhi, who beheaded a man and tried to blow up the Air Products plant, hanged himself in his French jail cell [Source]

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